SBUX, Molson, Uber, Marriott, duty changes, closures, holiday plans etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Don’t you find it somewhat galling that, when you’ve motivated yourself sufficiently to do something around the house or the garden, pull up a carpet, take down a fence or move the pile of bricks that’s been slowly rotating around the garden for the last decade from one place to another, your dog will settle itself down comfortably to watch you graft?

And it will occasionally give you its ‘you idiot’ sneer as it shifts itself to let its gastric wind find a way out and then object resentfully when you try to shift it out of your way.

In fact, in addition to the satisfaction the beasts clearly get from watching you work while they’re having a snooze, happier they’d no doubt be if they could trip you up a few times into the bargain.

Nothing serious. Maybe just a stumble, a dropped bacon sandwich and then oops, a blur of furry activity and where did that go?

But Hey-Ho, you know what they say. The dog may be right because when you can’t see the idiot in the room, then it may be you. On to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Pub closures:

CAMRA reports that pubs were closing at a rate of 30 a week in the first half of 2023, with CAMRA pub and club campaigns director Gary Timmins saying the ‘figures must be a wakeup call for Government at all levels to take a more proactive approach in ensuring compliance with the National Planning Policy Framework.’

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Duty changes:

SIBA reports that wine is ‘probably the biggest loser’ of the alcohol duty reforms that came into force yesterday….

On our numbers, the bottom line is that, per ml of pure alcohol – so even after adjusting for the strengths of the drinks – cider is (and was) taxed less than beer, which is taxed less than wine, which is taxed less than spirits….

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COMPANY NEWS:

Starbucks yesterday reported Q3 numbers saying consolidated net revenues rose by 12% to a record $9.2 Billion. It reports that Q3 comparable store sales rose by 10% globally. They were up by 7% in North America and up by 24% in the group’s international markets.

Starbucks reports that the LfL sales increase was ‘primarily driven by a 5% increase in comparable transactions and a 4% increase in average ticket.’ This broke down as to ticket sales up 6% and a 1% increase in comparable transactions in the US and a 21% increase in comparable transactions and a 2% increase in average ticket in overseas markets….

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Trust Inns reports revenue of £38.3m in the year to 2 April 2023, up from £33.8m in the period prior. Profit after tax reached £6.6m in the year, up from £3.7m. In September 2021, the company entered into a £30m revolving credit facility with Barclays that expires in 2026.

TDR Capital has invested a further £50m in Popeyes UK, with the funding to be used to accelerate the QSR concept’s openings programme….

Dishoom’s upcoming Brighton site located at 31a and 32 East Street in The Lanes will open under a new name, ‘The Permit Room’. It has been reported that this new site will be conceptually closer to a bar than a restaurant.

Molson Coors Q2 shows reported net sales up 11.8% and 12.1% in constant currency, primarily due to positive net pricing and favourable sales mix as well as higher financial volumes. The company posted underlying  income before income taxes of $502.2m, up 52.6% in constant currency….

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Yum China Holdings aims to open up to 1,300 stores in 2023, as it still sees growth opportunities despite the slowing economy. CEO Joey Wat said ‘In the last few years we have been opening new stores not only at lower tier cities but also increased density in the top tier city and the results are very good’.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

The Amadeus’ Consumer Travel Spend Priorities report has found that 40% of Brits will dip into their savings over the next year to fund their international travel plans, while a third will divert spend away from other areas to protect their holidays….

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Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings reported ‘record’ Q2 revenue of $2.2bn, up 33% versus 2019 figures….

Marriott has reported Q2 comparable systemwide constant dollar RevPAR up 13.5% YoY worldwide, 6.0% YoY in the U.S. & Canada, and 39.1% YoY in international markets. Net income totaled $726m, up from $678m  in the year-ago quarter….

Uber yesterday reported Q2 numbers saying that the company had made its first ever operating profit. It went on to forecast Q3 operating profit above Wall Street expectations. Whilst it operates in many markets and it is perhaps hard to generalise, it says it is seeing strong leisure demand and a gradual return to the office. The group’s shares rose by around 4% in early trading.

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Wizz Air has reported July traffic stats saying that it carried 6.0 million passengers, an increase of 27% year-on-year. The company says that it ‘continued to grow its network and improve its customer offering in July.’

ACI Europe figures show that passenger numbers across the continent reached 92.3% of 2019 levels in the first six months of the year.  Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said that air traffic has remained ‘extremely resilient’ despite ‘ lasting inflationary pressures and record increases in airfares since the beginning of the year’.

Data intelligence provider Mabrian Technologies claims that Europe could reduce CO2 emissions by one million tonnes per year by switching domestic flights to rail journeys. Mabrian’s report found that there are 554 domestic airline routes of less than 500 kilometres in Europe, which carry around 44 million passengers annually and produce an estimated 2.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

The CBI’s survey across small & medium-sized companies has found that sentiment is stable but output is falling ‘as rising finance costs bite…’

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S&P’s Manufacturing PMI reading for the UK came in at 45.3 in July, it’s joint lowest reading since the depths of the pandemic in May 2020. The number is a slight improvement on the Flash reading of 45.0…

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S&P reported a sharpening of the manufacturing downturn across the Eurozone saying that ‘excluding pandemic-related and lockdown-hit months, the reductions seen for factory output and demand for eurozone goods were the most severe since the global financial crisis in 2008-09.’ The manufacturing index came in at 42.7, down from 43.4 in June.

The Nationwide yesterday reported that house prices in the UK in July were down by 3.8% on the same month last year….

Fitch has cut its credit rating for the US from AAA to AA+ as a result of concerns over the state of the country’s finances and debt levels. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the downgrade was “arbitrary”…

The Telegraph reports that ‘Britain’s debt pile has expanded at a faster pace than any EU country apart from France since the pandemic began.’ It says debt in the UK has risen by 15 percentage points since Covid whilst in the Eurozone it has risen by 6.2 percentage points….

Sterling weaker at $1.2771 and €1.1623. Oil up at $85.61. UK 10yr gilt yield up 9pts at 4.39%. World markets mostly weaker yesterday & London set to open down around 39 pts as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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